


Life is Pain

by Ilmare_Ilse



Category: Hawaii Five-0 - Fandom
Genre: Angst, Drug Addiction, Friendship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-11-29
Updated: 2011-11-29
Packaged: 2017-10-26 16:47:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 16,502
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/285596
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ilmare_Ilse/pseuds/Ilmare_Ilse
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Danny and Steve get injured in the field, Danny is forced to share some secrets he wishes he had left behind.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

This shouldn't have happened.

Their suspects were not supposed to come back to the abandoned warehouse and find them looking through their stuff. The suspects were not supposed to have hand grenades, and he was definitely not supposed to end up dragging a half conscious McGarrett through the damn rainforest, while hiding from the psycho-hand grenade wielding-killers.

At least Danny had learned something from their last escapade through the Great Outdoors, and managed to get the satellite phone from the remains of the truck Steve had "borrowed", before they had to leave the smoking remains. The problem would be finding a safe place to let Steve lie down, call for backup and wait for said backup without being caught.

Fortunately for them, and not thanks to Steve's assistance, or lack thereof, they found a secluded corner, partially covered by shrubbery.

Danny lowered Steve carefully to the ground, checking the bandage and the bruising on his head. Steve groaned, trying to pull away and opening his eyes halfway. "Danno?"

"Hush… I'm not sure we lost them…" Said Danny, trying to keep Steve from moving too much. "Stay still, I'm going to try to get a hold of Chin, see if he can get us out of here…"

Danny called Chin and gave them their location, or at least the truck's location. Hopefully, Chin and the cavalry could track them down somehow. He sat down tiredly next to Steve, trying not to jostle his busted shoulder. He couldn't help a small moan of pain from leaving his lips.

Steve sat up at the sound, trying to focus his gaze on his partner. "Danny? You hurt?"

Danny leaned his head back tiredly. "Don't worry about it, Rambo. Just twisted my shoulder the wrong way."

Steve looked him from head to toe, or tried to at least. "'sit broken? 'slocated?"

Danny would have shrugged if it wouldn't have hurt like hell. "Dunno… Just hurts… Don't worry, Steve, Chin will be here soon with the cavalry…"

Steve nodded tiredly and suddenly doubled over in pain.

Danny tried to hang on to him. "Shit! Steve! It's alright… Help's on the way… just hang on, you hear me?"

* * *

Chin and Kono, along with a SWAT team, reached the overturned truck. A part of the team went in the direction of the warehouse, to check if the perps were still in the vicinity. Chin and Kono followed the directions Danny provided, hoping to find the rest of their team relative unharmed.

What they found was Danny, wearing a blood stained shirt with a missing sleeve, looking pale as a ghost and trying to calm down a gasping Steve, who was wearing said sleeve as a bandage around his head and coughing blood.

* * *

The ride from the forest to the Hospital was a blur to Danny. He remembered vaguely a chopper, and a bunch of people sticking stuff into Steve's chest, arms and mouth. Apparently there was also someone poking at him, because he had a thing wrapped around his arm, and a blanket over his shoulders.

Someone wheeled him inside and made him sit on a gurney. He looked around and noticed that now even more people were working on Steve, there were urgent words being yelled around and everyone looked worried, but Danny was strangely detached from everything.

Steve was being taken care of, it was not his job anymore. Besides, his shoulder was killing him, the room had started spinning a while ago, and he was really cold. There was a nurse standing next to him asking him some questions, but if someone were to ask him about his answers, he would have no idea what he said.

The arrival of a doctor made him snap out of his daze for a bit. "Detective Williams, I see you've injured your shoulder. Is there anything else paining you? Do you remember hitting your head on the accident?"

Danny shook his head. "No… don't think so…" He watched as a couple of nurses cut off his shirt so the doctor could take a look at his busted shoulder. He looked in Steve's direction again. "What are they doing to him?"

The doctor looked towards Steve's gurney, only to focus back to Danny's shoulder. "They're treating him. By the looks of it, they'll be moving him to the OR soon but it shouldn't be a complica-"

Whatever the doctor was saying was interrupted by a piercing pain on his shoulder. He doubled over, gasping in pain. Dimly, he heard the doctor talking to him again. "Detective Wiliams? It seems your shoulder is dislocated, but the swelling is too severe to know for sure. We'll send you for an MRI to confirm the diagnosis, but we'll give you something for the pain before that, alright?"

Danny lifted his eyes to see a nurse approaching with a syringe on her hands; he looked down at his hand and was surprised to see that they had already an IV on him. He looked back to the nurse and tried to pull away from her. "No, no painkillers." He said, shaking his head.

The doctor moved closer to Danny, placing his hand on Danny's good shoulder. "Detective Williams, we need to give you something for the pain. If it's a dislocation, the tension in your muscles once we reduce it could cause additional damage…"

Danny stumbled off from the gurney, knocking over a tray with all kinds of stuff in the process. "No, don't want painkillers… No…"

The doctor turned around to the nurse to give her some instructions and then turned back to Danny, talking to him in a placating tone. "Detective Williams, you need to calm down…"

Danny tried to get farther away from the doctor. He felt the IV ripping from his hand, but he didn't really feel the pain. He needed to get away from the needle. He knew that if he'd just explain the situation to the doctor, then everything would be alright, but he was in no shape to make the explanation; on top of the pain on his shoulder he was starting to panic, and everything seemed to go in slow motion around him. He tried to bolt, but a pair of arms stopped his flight, accidentally putting pressure on his shoulder and the pain brought him to his knees.

He must have closed his eyes for a while, because next time he opened them he has back on the gurney, curled up on his good side. There were hands holding him down, but he couldn't fight them off. The feel of a pinprick on his leg told him that he had lost the fight. "Nooooo… Please no…"

He heard a female voice asking him to calm down, telling him that he would feel better when he next woke up, but he knew it was not true. Nothing would be alright when he next woke up.

He felt the numbness taking over and kept repeating "No, please, don't…" until sleep finally claimed him.

TBC…

A/N: Thank you for reading! As with all of my other stories, this is not betaed, so apologies for any mistakes.

Feel free to leave a review, whether you liked it or not…

See you soon!


	2. Life is Pain Chapter 2

Kono and Chin arrived at the hospital a few minutes later. They were directed by a nurse towards a waiting room, where the doctor would give them information regarding Danny and Steve's condition.

Ten minutes later, a doctor approached them. "Family of Daniel Williams?"

Chin and Kono stood up. "We are his coworkers."

The doctor looked uncertain. "I can only provide information to his family or the person authorized…"

"We need to know his condition in order to notify his family… We wouldn't want to cause them unduly worry." Said Chin, trying to convince the doctor.

The doctor sighed. "Very well… I'm Doctor Reid, and I treated Detective Williams. He arrived with a dislocated shoulder and showing symptoms of shock. Once we started treating him he became agitated, trying to avoid treatment, removing forcefully his IV and causing harm to his person. We had to sedate him in order to calm him down…"

Kono cut him off… "What kind of harm are we talking about, Doc?"

"He was combative. The shock symptoms meant that he was detached from reality, he refused pain relief and tried to get away, ripping his IV and almost injuring his shoulder further."

Chin shook his head and Kono ran a hand through her hair. "How is he doing now, doctor?" Asked Chin.

"He's resting peacefully now. We'll keep him sedated for a few hours to help him get the rest he needs. Tomorrow morning we will slowly lower the sedation, in order to control his anxiety when he awakes. I could direct you to his room if you'd like?"

They both nodded. "Doctor, do you know anything about Commander Steven McGarrett's condition? He came in with Danny…" Asked Chin, before following the doctor to Danny's room.

"I understand that he suffered some internal injuries and is in surgery to repair the damage. I'm afraid I don't have any more information, but I will ask his doctor to come talk to you as soon as possible." Replied Doctor Reid.

They arrived at Danny's room and the doctor moved towards the nurses' station. "I'll check on Detective Williams in a couple of hours, if he needs anything don't hesitate to press the call button."

* * *

Chin opened the door to Danny's room and found him sleeping peacefully on a bed, a few scratches and small bruises on his face and a sling wrapped tightly around his left shoulder.

Kono moved to stand on his right side, gently taking his hand. She noticed sings of tear tracks on Danny's face and reached out to wipe them with her thumb, softly caressing his forehead to try to smooth the frown on his forehead. "Don't worry about a thing, brah, we've got your back…" She said softly.

Chin smiled at her and took out Danny's phone. He had an unpleasant phone call to make.

* * *

The greeting Chin expected was nothing like the one he got. "Daniel, no matter how much Grace wants it, she's not joining her school's football team! She's joining the gymnastics team, are we clear?"

Chin lifted his eyebrows in surprise. "Mrs. Edwards?"

The line went silent for a few seconds, and then Rachel's worried voice came back on. "Who's this? Why do you have Daniel's mobile?"

Chin took a deep breath. "Mrs. Edwards, this is Chin Ho Kelly, I work with Danny at Five-0."

He could hear Rachel taking a couple of deep breaths. "H-has something happened to Danny?"

"He was in car accident this afternoon; he was brought to the hospital with a dislocated shoulder and with symptoms of shock. They set his shoulder, but he was a bit agitated, so they chose to sedate him-" Chin didn't even got to finish before he was interrupted by Rachel.

"They WHAT?" Her voice had taken a dangerous tone.

"The doctor said that Danny was agitated, that he had resisted treatment, so they had to sedate him in order to set his shoulder…" It was not usual to hear Chin sounding so uncertain.

"Of course he resisted treatment! Didn't they check his medical records?" Rachel was seething by now.

"Medical records?" Chin thought this was getting weirder by the minute.

"Never mind, What Hospital is it?" Asked Rachel.

"Queen's Medical-"

Chin hadn't finished his reply before Rachel interrupted him again. "I'll be there in a few minutes." And she hung up.

Chin looked at the phone confused, shaking his head and turning to Kono. "She's on her way…" he shrugged.

* * *

A couple of minutes later, a nurse came into the room. "Excuse me, Dr. Kane is looking for the family of Steven McGarrett?"

Chin looked at Kono, questioning. Kono nodded in the direction of the door. "You go, Cuz, I'm staying with Danny…"

Chin nodded and followed the nurse out of the room. The nurse led him to a small Asian doctor, wearing surgical scrubs. "Doctor Kane? This is Mr. McGarrett's coworker. Detective Kelly."

She shook Chin's hand. "I'm Doctor Kane, I've been treating Commander McGarrett. He arrived with a concussion and trauma to the chest which resulted on broken ribs that pierced his right lung. We had to insert a chest tube to stabilize him and in the OR we were able to repair successfully the tear on his lung. We will keep monitoring him for internal bleeding, but we are confident on his full recovery. He's in recovery right now, but they should move him to a private room shortly."

Chin nodded, relieved. "Thank you Doctor."

He was about to go back to Danny's room when he spotted Rachel coming down the hallway, and she didn't look happy. "Hello. Where is he?"

Chin noticed the worry on her face, so he chose to ignore her apparent rudeness. "He's still sleeping; the doctor said they'll keep him sedated until the morning…" He said as they entered Danny's room.

Kono stood up from the chair at Danny's side, nodding a quiet greeting. Rachel nodded as well, moving to Danny's good side. She took in the small frown on his forehead, the sling on his arm, the bandages from the ripped IV and the new IV on his hand. With a deep breath, she took the control to call the nurse and pressed the button. A minute later a far too chipper nurse appeared. "Hello! Can I help you with anything?"

Rachel's glare would have frozen the Sahara desert. "I'd like to see Daniel's doctor."

The nurse raised her eyebrows, her smile losing some of its original chirpiness. "Doctor Reid is treating a patient right now. Are you family of Mr. Williams?"

Rachel's glare got even frostier. "I am _Detective_ Williams Ex-wife. I am listed as his next of kin, and yet I found out that he had been admitted to this hospital through his coworkers. Nobody called me to inform me that they were treating him, much less that they had sedated him against his consent!"

The nurse's eyes opened wide as saucers. "I-I'll get the doctor right away, Mrs. Williams!" She said, before fleeing the room.

* * *

The doctor came in a couple of minutes later, he moved towards Rachel, extending his hand. "Hello, Mrs. Williams, I'm Doctor Reid, and I've been in charge of Detective Williams treatment."

Rachel glared at the doctor, not bothering to uncross her arms to shake his proffered hand. "I'd like to be informed about Daniel's treatment."

The doctor lowered his hand nervously. He started going through Danny's file. "Well… Detective Williams came in with a dislocated shoulder. I believe that the pain of the injury and the circumstances around it caused him to experience symptoms of shock. His blood pressure was very low, he seemed detached from the events around him, and once we started treating him he became agitated. In order to treat his shoulder we needed to inject him with painkillers, but he became frightened at the sight of the needle, he got more agitated, jumping from the gurney he was being treated on and ripped his IV line. We were forced to sedate him, since he was in danger of injuring himself further."

He continued, growing concerned by the glare Rachel was directing his way. "Because of his agitated state, we decided it would be better to keep him sedated overnight. Tomorrow morning we will remove the sedation slowly and depending on his evolution, he should be able to go home tomorrow afternoon…"

Rachel had to retrain herself from punching the doctor, and the effort showed on her face. "Please, correct me if I'm wrong, but even though Daniel asked you not to give him painkillers, even though he went as far as to rip the IV from his arm to avoid it, you still forced them on him-"

The doctor raised his hands in a placating gesture. "Mrs. Williams, he was endangering his own health, he was harming himself!"

Rachel raised an eyebrow. "Did you even stop to wonder why was Daniel objecting so strongly to the painkillers? Did you even bother to look at his medical records?"

The doctor looked unsure at the folder on his hands. "His medical rec-"

It was Rachel's turn to interrupt. "Clearly you didn't, or you would have realized that he has requested not to be given any prescription painkillers unless he or his next of kin explicitly requests them!"

The doctor started going through Danny's file, finding something that left him with his mouth open."Oh my-" He looked apologetically at Rachel. "Mrs. Williams. I can't tell you how sorry I am-"

Rachel didn't care for apologies right now. "I want you to take Daniel off the sedatives. NOW! I don't want you to touch another hair on his head and I want another doctor to treat him."

The doctor nodded nervously. "Certainly, I-I'll make the necessary arrangements…" He looked nervously towards Danny's sleeping form. "Mrs. Williams, he's probably going to go through-"

He was cut off by Rachel again. "I know exactly what he is going to go through, _Doctor_." She had a way to make his title sound like an insult.

He moved towards the door. "Right… right, I'll make the arrangements to remove the sedation and to deliver the case to a colleague. Again, Mrs. Williams, my sincerest apologies…" And with that he left.

Rachel turned to the other two occupants of the room. Chin and Kono were looking at her with a surprised expression. Rachel took a deep breath and moved back to Danny's side, gently taking his hand and caressing it with her thumb. Kono moved to the other side of his bed. She looked at Rachel. "I'm sorry… He never said anything…" She said, shaking her head sadly.

Rachel looked back at Kono with a small smile. "He would have been happy if you never found out about it."

Kono studied Rachel for a moment. "It started with the wound on his leg, didn't it?"

Rachel looked at her surprised. "How did you know about it?"

Kono shrugged. "It was on one of his surfing lessons… I asked him about the scar, and he said that he had been injured on the job… I commented that by the looks of it, it must have hurt like a bitch and he completely shut down… he changed the subject and I learned not to ask about it again…"

Rachel chuckled, not letting go of Danny's hand. "That sounds like Danny…"

There was a knock on the door and the same nurse that had come before entered the room. "Hello? I'm here to change Detective Williams' IV bag…" She said, sounding uncertain, and a bit afraid of Rachel.

Rachel nodded, moving away from Danny's side. "Go ahead." She said.

The nurse did her job efficiently and quietly and looked back to Rachel. "He should be waking up in about an hour… Don't hesitate to call if you need anything…" She said, with a subdued smile.

Rachel smiled sadly. "Thank you…"

* * *

About 45 minutes later, Danny started stirring. Rachel moving to his side, holding his twitching hand. "Danny? Open your eyes, Danny…"

Danny had some trouble opening his eyes. He finally managed to lift his heavy eyelids and tried to focus his sight. He didn't expect to find the figure in front of him. In fact, her face hadn't been the first thing he saw when he woke up since a good couple of years. "Rach?" He asked, looking around confused. He noticed the sling on his arm and the fact that he was in a hospital room and the memories came back to him. "Rach! Please! I didn't want them! I swear I didn't ask them for it!" He slurred frantically, holding on to Rachel's hand.

Rachel squeezed his hand, trying to calm him. "Hush… It's alright… I know, Danny, I know…"

Danny shook his head weakly, his eyes filling with tears. "Didn't want to do this again… Put you through it again… I'm sorry Rach, so sorry…" The drugs still had a hold on him, so he couldn't stop his eyes from closing again, sleep claiming him.

Rachel gently wiped away his tears. "Hush… It's alright… Everything is going to be alright…"

The nurse came back, rolling in some equipment. "Excuse me… I need to run some tests on Detective Williams… Would-Could you leave the room for a few minutes?" She asked uncertainly.

Rachel went back to glaring at her. "What kind of tests?"

"I need to check his blood pressure, temperature, pulse…" The nurse said, nervously.

Rachel took a deep breath. "Do you know who his doctor is now?"

The nurse shook her head. "I'm not sure if they have assigned him a new attending. You can ask at the nurses' station down the hall…"

Rachel nodded, moving towards the door. "Please, let me know if he wakes up?"

The nurse nodded. "Of course!" She looked at Chin and Kono. "Doctor Kane asked me to inform you that Commander McGarrett had just been moved to the room next door from this. She's checking on him right now, but you should be able to see him as soon as she's done."

They moved to the door at the news. "Thank you" said Kono, before going in search of Steve's room.

* * *

Out in the hallway, Chin and Kono noticed that Rachel wasn't having much luck on finding Danny's doctor. They didn't have much time to decide whether to go with her or not, because right then Doctor Kane came out of what they assumed was Steve's room. She motioned them towards the nurses' station. "He is doing fine; he's just starting to come out from the anesthesia, his lungs sound great and the incisions look well… He'll probably have to stay for 4 or 5 days, depending on his evolution…"

They were interrupted by Danny's nurse. "Excuse me, Dr. Kane? Mrs. Williams requested if you could take over detective Williams' case…"

She looked questioningly at the nurse and at Rachel, taking the file from the nurse. She started reading through the notes and they could see from her face the concern for what had been done to Danny. "Maybe we should discuss this privately?" She asked Rachel, glancing at Chin and Kono.

Rachel shook her head. "They're family, it's alright."

The doctor nodded. She kept looking through the notes and looked at Rachel, frowning. "Excuse me. Who is Rachel Edwards?"

Rachel raised her eyebrows, just now noticing that everyone had been calling her 'Mrs. Williams' and she hadn't corrected them. "I am…"

The doctor looked to Chin and Kono for confirmation, and they nodded. She turned towards Rachel. "Mrs. Edwards, you are aware that now that we have removed the sedation, Daniel will most likely start to experience withdrawal symptoms…" He waited for Rachel to nod her understanding before continuing. "We have two choices; we could start a treatment with a low concentration of a sedative, which would keep the symptoms at bay… We could wait for his shoulder to heal completely before we begin the detox process, or we could start it now, admit him for a few days and keep an eye on him during the process…"

Rachel nodded, considering both options. "If he started now… Would you need to… would you have to lock him up?" She said, with a slight waver of her voice.

Doctor Kane smiled reassuringly. "Honestly, with what Daniel has gone through, I wouldn't force him to do anything he doesn't want to do, least of all lock him or use restrains… Unfortunately he was dosed against his will, but that tells me that there is a good chance that he can go through the detox voluntarily, without the need of restrains or to keep him locked."

Rachel nodded, looking more reassured now. "I'd like to see what he wants to do…"

The doctor nodded, motioning them towards Danny's room. "Is he awake yet?" She asked the nurse. At her nod, she turned to Rachel. "Let's see how he's doing then."

Rachel opened the door, now more reassured that Danny would get the help he needed. That feeling lasted far too little for her taste though, because Danny was no longer sleeping in his room. In fact, he was nowhere to be found.

TBC…


	3. Life is Pain Chapter 3

Steve was floating. It was a familiar feeling. It was usually how he felt after something hadn't gone according to plan and a bunch of doctors felt the need to put him to sleep and either cut him open or sew him up.

He twitched a bit, noticing that he was lying on a soft bed; there were bandages around his chest and a couple of stitches on his forehead. Well, that explained the dull headache.

* * *

A strange noise in his room prompted him to open his eyes, but by the time he had managed to lift his heavy eyelids, the sound had gone quiet. He was looking around his empty room trying to find the source of the noise when a nurse poked her head through the door and entered once she saw he was awake. "Hello, I'm Rose. How are you feeling?"

Steve thought about his answer for a couple of seconds. "Alright, I think… What happened?"

The nurse started taking his blood pressure, pulse and temperature. "I understand that you were involved in some kind of car accident…"

Steve tried to sit up, but the nurse pushed him back down. "Wait. Danny! He was with me, he's my partner… Do you know where he is?"

The nurse tensed at Steve's question, but tried to cover it. "Erm… I think he's resting right now… I'll… I'll find his doctor and get you some information on your friend, alright?" With that she turned around and left the room as fast as she could without having to actually run from there.

* * *

Steve looked around his room, deciding that if the nurse wasn't going to give him any information on Danny, then he'd have to get it himself. He tried to see if his cell was anywhere in his room, but it seems that he was out of luck. Just as well, he'd have to get up from the bed and see for himself what was going on with Danny.

As he was gathering himself for the effort of getting out of the bed, he was interrupted by a noise coming from the bathroom. A minute later, the door opened a crack and then Danny came in, stumbling a bit on his own feet. He was moving as quickly as his not very good balance allowed it, and he hurried to Steve's bed, stealing nervous glances at the door every few seconds. "Hey, Rambo… You good? Good! We gotta get outta here…" He said, while lowering the railing of Steve's bed.

Steve studied his friend. Danny was wearing a hospital gown and a half undone sling on his left shoulder. His hair was a mess, he was as pale as a ghost with dark shadows under his eyes and he was trembling from head to toe. Before Danny could rip the IV from Steve's arm, Steve stopped him, grabbing his hand. "Hey, Hey! Danny! Stop for a minute… Why don't you tell me what's going on?"

Danny shook his head frantically, pulling back his arm. "No! We gotta leave! It's not safe! They wouldn't listen! We can't trust them!"

Steve leaned forward and caught Danny's hand, noticing the blood from his ripped IV. "Danny… calm down, it's alright… We'll just call the doctor and we'll clear this up, ok?"

Danny pulled away and started pacing. "No! No doctors! No… He… I didn't want them! I asked him not to! And he forced me! I didn't want to do this again… We can't trust him, Steve! We have to go!"

Steve was getting very worried about his partner's behavior. "Danny… Danny! Look at me! Look at me, Danny…" Danny stopped pacing and looked at him. Steve decided that the only way to get to his friend would be to use his loyalty against him. "Danny… I can't go anywhere… They just fixed me up, and if I move around too much, my stitches will burst and I'll need them to stitch me up again… Why don't you come over here, so we can think of a plan to get out of here… let's just take a moment to think how to do it right, ok?" He said, moving sideways to clear a space on his bed and patting it invitingly.

Danny looked at Steve and realized that he was right. There was no way that he was leaving this place walking, and he couldn't leave him here. He looked around frantically, but he couldn't see a way out of their situation. He took a shuddering breath, his face crumpling. He passed his hand through his hopelessly wild hair and looked around again, still not finding a solution. Steve tried to get his attention again. "Danny… Come on, come here…"

Danny finally seemed to deflate, moving haltingly towards Steve's bed. He sat down next to him, but Steve poked and prodded him until he lied down next to him on the bed. Danny was still trembling, his breaths coming in shuddering pants, so Steve lifted his arm, surprised that it didn't hurt as much as he thought it would, and drew his friend closer. He started speaking soothingly to Danny. "Danny… I need you to breathe with me, ok? We'll fix this, but you have to calm down…"

It took some time, but Danny was finally starting to calm down, and with it, the exhaustion started to catch up with him. He looked at Steve tiredly. "Is all this cuddling really necessary?"

Steve smirked, glad to have his partner back. "You could go back to your room if you like…"

Danny looked at Steve sadly, his eyes filling with tears. "Dont want to go to my room... I want to leave this place… They won't listen, I don't trust them…"

Steve squeezed his good shoulder reassuringly. "Don't worry, partner. I won't let them hurt you… I promise."

Danny looked him in the eyes. "You're going to call the doctor and the nurses the minute I close my eyes, aren't you?" Steve raised his eyebrows, ttrying to look innocent. Danny just rolled his eyes. "Just don't let them drug me again… Don't want them anymore… Was clean for so long…" He said with a sigh.

Steve smiled sadly. "I won't let them do anything you don't want them to do… I promise."

Danny blinked sluggishly. "Thank you, partner." He mumbled before finally giving up the fight to sleep.

* * *

Once Steve was sure that Danny was sleeping deeply, he pressed the call button. When the nurse showed up, he spoke in a dangerous whisper. "I want you to find Danny's doctor and I want you to clean and bandage his hand. If you or any of the doctors in this hospital does anything to upset him again, I'll find them and kill them in the slowest and most painful way that I can find. Are we clear?"

The nurse gave a jerky nod and left the room.

Steve kept looking at his sleeping partner, hoping that they could fix this mess somehow, and that Danny didn't have to suffer too much in the process.

* * *

TBC…

* * *


	4. Life is Pain Chapter 4

A few minutes later, Dr. Kane came into the room. She studied Danny's sleeping form and Steve's protective stance. She approached the two men, addressing Steve. "Hello Commander, how are you feeling?"

Steve completely ignored the woman's question. "I want to know what happened to my partner" He said in a soft voice.

The doctor took a deep breath to recite the by now well known speech. "Detective Williams was admitted with a dislocated shoulder and symptoms of shock. Because of the nature of his injuries and his mental state, he was medicated with sedatives and pain killers; unfortunately he didn't react well to the medication, so it was removed. Before we could continue with his treatment, he left his room…"

Steve glared at the doctor. "That's bullshit! He was terrified. I want to know what is it that you did to scare him like that!"

The doctor looked nervous. "Commander, I'm not authorized to share that kind of information-"

They were interrupted by a familiar voice from the doorway. "Another doctor forcefully gave him painkillers. He asked them not to, but they thought it was just the shock. He was not able to tell them that he was recovering from an addiction to prescription drugs." Rachel said.

Steve stared at her for a few seconds and then looked at his sleeping friend, trying to make sense of all the information he was receiving. The only thing that clicked right away was that Danny had asked them not to do it, and they had drugged him against his will. He went back to glaring to the doctor. "Who drugged him?"

The doctor knew that Steve was injured and therefore unable to cause her any harm, but his threatening growl was pretty scary. Still, it was not the first time one of her patients had growled at her. "Commander, that doctor will not be treating Detective Williams anymore. I took over his case at the request of Mrs. Edwards."

Steve nodded. "Alright, then if you're treating the both of us, I want you to get us whatever papers we have to sign so we can get the hell out of this hospital."

The doctor looked from Steve to Rachel and back at Steve again. "Commander, you just came out of surgery, you're in no shape to leave that bed! And Detective Williams still needs to complete his treatment!"

"Then we will find another hospital to complete that treatment!" Steve looked to Rachel's face looking for confirmation, but was surprised to find uncertainty on her face.

"Steven, Danny is not… He… He's going to go through withdrawal… he's probably already started… I don't think it's a good idea for him to leave the Hospital." She said, shaking her head.

Steve shook his head as well. "But they drugged him against his will! He can't stay here!"

A soft, sleepy voice spoke up. "You know, I'm right here… And sometimes I like to make my own decisions." If there was something that Danny hated were people talking about him as if he wasn't in the room. He looked around, a little self conscious about the fact that he was lying on Steve's bed, but lacking the energy to do anything but moving his head. He looked at the doctor. "So, what's it gonna be, doc. Are you gonna lock me up or tie me up?"

Doctor Kane raised her eyebrows. "Daniel, we are not going to do any of those things. We had discussed with Mrs. Edwards two options. Since your shoulder is injured and is likely to cause you some further discomfort, I suggested that we forestalled the symptoms by keeping you on a low dose of oxycodone-"

"NO! I don't want any more pain meds!" The only thing keeping Danny from bolting again was Steve's arm wrapped around his shoulders.

Doctor Kane was talking again. "Danny! Danny, it's alright. We won't do that if you don't want to. The other option was to keep you here for a few days, to keep an eye on you and help you as best as we can with the symptoms. It's strictly voluntary. If you want to stay, you stay, if you want to leave, you are free to go… There won't be any restrains or locked rooms…"

Danny thought about it. He wanted nothing more than going back home, lock himself in his tiny apartment and deal with his issues on his own. He knew he was in for an awful couple of days, and he didn't want to go through them in front of an audience, again.

One look at Rachel's face told him what he already knew. She wouldn't let him do this by himself, and he'd be damned before he put her through it, again. He looked back to the doctor, resigned with his fate. "Alright, I'll stay…" He looked at Steve nervously, trying to sit up. "Thanks for the hospitality, babe, but you look like you need your bed back…"

The doctor interjected. "Of course! I'll make the arrangements to move you back to your room…"

Before she could move towards the door and before Danny could sit up, Steve spoke up. "What? No! Danny's not leaving this room!"

All of the room's occupants were confused by Steve's affirmation, but he wouldn't be deterred. He held on to Danny's arm for emphasis. "No! They already drugged you against your will. Either they get another bed in here for you or I start camping in your room, but I'm not leaving you alone in this place!"

Danny opened his mouth, but no words would come out. He looked to Rachel and the doctor for help, but they were no help at all. "Detective Williams, I'll set up the bed and give you two a minute to decide the sleeping arrangements. Mrs. Edwards, do you have a minute?" And with that, they left the room.

Danny looked back at Steve. His head was starting to pound, and he knew it would only get worse. On top of that, Steve looked as pale as a ghost, and the fact Danny could see that he was in pain told a lot about how badly the Navy SEAL was really feeling. "Hey, Steve… Listen, I appreciate it, but… I… I think the doc is right… I should get my own room. You just came out of surgery and need time to heal… And… And me… It's not going to… You don't know… I mean… You shouldn't have to see that…" He passed a hand through his hair, trying to keep it from trembling too much.

Steve was still holding Danny's arm and trying to get some eye contact with him. "Danny… I know it's not going to be pleasant… I… Mary may have thought that I never visited, but that's just because she doesn't remember much of her first days at Rehab…"

For the second time in a few minutes, Steve had left Danny speechless. It had to be some kind of record. "Shit… Steve… I didn't… I had no idea about Mary… I'm sorry man…" Of course that to make things worse, now Steve would feel the need to help him as he helped his sister… Things kept getting better and better for Danny.

It would not do, he had to make Steve see some sense. "It's just that I didn't want to do this again… Besides, you're injured, and in pain and the last thing you need it's me…" He waved his hands around, trying to find the words to describe him writhing in pain and begging for it to stop, but couldn't find any that suited the situation. "You need to rest… I'll be fine by myself…" He looked away.

Steve was nothing if not persistent. "Danny, if our roles were reversed. Are you really saying that you'd leave me to deal with this stuff alone?"

Danny nodded, but wouldn't look at Steve. "I'd respect your choice."

Steve snorted. "Less than an hour ago you came in here to bust me out of the hospital, because you thought t was not safe! And even when you were close to panicking, you agreed to stay because I said I couldn't move!"

That got Danny's attention. "You can't move! You just had your insides stitched together! You need to rest! You don't need me distracting you from that!"

Steve was starting to lose his patience. "Danny, you could have left and you stayed because I couldn't go, and you expect me to leave you alone now? Besides, if they move you to another room, then I'll just spend the whole time trying to get out of here and check on you… You'll be doing me a favor if you just stay here!" He said, with a triumphant smirk.

Danny opened and closed his mouth a couple of times and finally relented. "Alright, you win… But you'll listen to the doc and won't do anything reckless or I'm outta here, you hear me?"

Steve smiled, relieved. "Loud and clear, Danno…"

Danny shook his head with a small smile on his tired face. "Crazy SEAL…"

* * *

Doctor Kane chose that moment to come back to the room. "Danny, your bed is ready; do you want to be moved to another room?"

Danny shook his head, massaging his temples. "No… I'm staying here…"

The doctor called a couple of nurses that helped to settle Danny and Steve in the room. They checked Danny's shoulder and fixed the sling, then they cleaned up the tear on Danny's hand, but they didn't reattach an IV, to avoid any other incidents.

Danny watched tiredly as the doctor checked Steve's bandages and wrote down some instructions in his chart. He noticed that whatever medication they had given Steve was making him sleepy and that the stubborn SEAL was fighting the effects as much as he could. "Hey, Super SEAL! I'm taking a nap… why don't you get a wink or two as well?"

Steve studied his friend, not sure if he could leave his friend by himself. Danny rolled his eyes again. "I said I was staying here, didn't I? Now get some sleep before I reconsider my decision!"

Steve must have seen some truth on Danny's face, because with a softly spoken "Sleep well, Danno…" he fell asleep.

* * *

Doctor Kane moved to Danny's bed, holding two pills for him to take. Danny raised his eyebrows, an _'are you kidding me?´_ expression on his face. The doctor smiled encouragingly. "It's only paracetamol and a muscle relaxant that have no dependency side effects. They should help a bit with your symptoms…"

Danny accepted the pills, downing them with some water. He knew they wouldn't help at all, but he was too tired to fight anymore. He looked tiredly at Steve's sleeping form, and finally closed his eyes, knowing that things would start to get really bad soon, and hoping that at some point they would get better.

* * *

TBC...

* * *


	5. Life is Pain Chapter 5

Steve next awoke to a soft conversation. He really didn't want to eavesdrop, but it was not like he could get out of the room in his current condition, so he stayed quiet, hoping not to interrupt whatever that was going on at the opposite side of the room.

"Danny, let me just call the doctor…" Rachel sounded worried.

He could almost hear Danny shaking his head. "Nah, Rach. It's really not that bad… And she can't do anything about it anyway…" Danny was putting up a good act, but Steve could hear that he was hurting.

"Danny, you are in pain and you are starting to feel a little warm. Maybe the doctor can give you something to make you feel a bit better?" Apparently Danny was not fooling Rachel either.

"Rach, I'm fine. It's fine… It's just how this thing goes… You… You need to go home. Grace… Gracie must be worried…" The constant pauses on Danny's speech told a lot about how badly he was feeling.

"Danny, Grace is fine. I talked to her a few minutes ago; Stan is at home, so I could stay a little while longer…" Rachel would not be dissuaded.

"Rach, please, just go…" Danny was starting to sound desperate.

"But Danny… I just want to take care of you…"

"I think you lost that right the moment you found another husband, Rach!" Danny's snappy tone was starting to come out.

"Danny! That is not fair… I'm just trying to help…" Rachel sounded hurt.

"Well, I'm… I'm not sure if you've noticed, but life hasn't exactly been fair with me lately!" Danny sucked a harsh breath.

"What do you want? I'm asking you to leave, please! Do you really want me to beg? I'll beg… just please, leave… I don't want you here… Please, Rach…" Steve could hear Danny's hitching breaths from across the room.

"Alright, Danny! Alright… I'll leave… I… I'll call tomorrow, to see how you're doing… I… Goodbye, Danny." Rachel's voice came out choked up. Steve could hear her footsteps and then the door opening and closing behind her.

* * *

Steve finally opened his eyes and looked around the room. Rationally, he had always been aware of the fact that his partner what not exactly tall, but Steve had never associated the word _Small_ with Danny until now; Danny was curled up in a tight ball, facing away from Steve. The tremors rocking his body could be seen from across the room, and he was trying very hard not to breathe too harshly.

Steve wished he could get out of the bed, but he knew that with all of the wires and lines attached to him, there was no chance of him pulling it off, never mind the painkillers running through his system were making everything a bit fuzzy around the edges, so he did the next best thing, he pushed the call button on his bed.

When the nurse came in, she looked at the two occupants of the room and moved towards the one that needed more immediate attention first. Apparently, Danny didn't seem to like the attention very much, because after a couple of questions from the nurse, a couple of headshakes and muttered words from Danny and a BP and temperature check, she was moving away from him and towards Steve's bed.

"Hello Steve, how are you feeling?" She sounded far too chipper for Steve's taste.

"I want you to disconnect all of this stuff from me and I want to get out of this bed." Steve was speaking softly, but the nurse couldn't deny the authority behind his words.

Unfortunately for Steve, he was not the first military man to have graced the halls of this hospital. "I'm sorry Steve, but doctor Kane warned us not to let you move too much yet. Your wound is still healing, and we need to be careful about putting any additional pressure on your ribcage."

Steve shook his head, looking from the nurse to Danny's trembling form. "You don't understand… I have to leave this bed…"

The nurse smiled sympathetically. "Steve, the last thing you need right now is to leave this bed. However, I think I can help, but I need your promise not to overexert yourself and that you will call if you need assistance."

Steve looks surprised, but nods. "Whatever you say… Just…" He motioned towards Danny's bed.

The nurse nodded. "Ok, I'm going to remove your Morphine drip. Your last dose should last for a couple of more hours, but I'll check on you in an hour or so to see if you are feeling any discomfort." She unplugged the Morphine bag and lowered the railings on the left side of Steve's bed and the right of Danny's. She moved the small table that stood in between Steve and Danny's beds and lifting the breaks of Steve's, he gently pushed it towards Danny's, until they were together. "Remember your promise, Commander." And with that, she left them alone.

Steve scooted on the bed to get closer to his partner, and reached out to grab Danny's trembling shoulder. "Hey, Danny… You alright?"

Danny jumped in his bed, startled. He rolled around, not leaving his curled up position and was surprised to see Steve, with bed and all, right next to him. "Shit! Freaking Super SEAL! What the hell are you do- Fuck!" His rant was interrupted by a wave of pain that made it hard to breathe, let alone, rant.

He tilted towards Steve, not able to control his body's movement. He could feel the SEAL's arm wrapping around his shoulders and he knew he was talking to him, but Danny couldn't hear anything over the pain roaring through his body.

After what felt like hours to Danny, but was probably just a few minutes, he started hearing what Steve was saying. "-you need to slow your breathing Danny! Danny, you listening? You have to slow down, brah!"

Danny tried to follow Steve's directions and started breathing slower. The pain was diminishing as well, but it would spike every now and then. The more he followed Steve's "In and out, Danno" directions, the more the pain went down from 'Dear God, please make it stop' territory to a mellower 'I wish I could bite off all the parts that hurt" level.

One look at Steve's concerned face had him resuming his previous rant. "I mean… Do you have… any notion… of personal space? E…even though I had to request a…nother bed in… o…order to keep a re…reasonable distance, y…you still had to g…go and push our beds t…together!"

Steve smiled, tightening his hold on his trembling friend. "Well, what can I say, Danno… I missed you!"

Danny chuckled, but it sounded more like a choked sob. He hid his face against Steve's chest, trying and failing to stop some tears from falling. He ran a hand down his face, trying to wipe some of them. He finally got himself together after a couple of minutes. He self-consciously looked at Steve, but was comforted to find an understanding smile on his partner's face. "Thanks, man… I'm sorry about this…"

Steve shrugged. "If I remember correctly, back at the forest I coughed up blood all over you, so I'm guessing this makes us even…"

Danny smiled, looking at the bandages on Steve's chest. "Not sure i…if it makes us e…even… You sp…pit all over one of my fa…favorite ties… By the way… H…how you doin'?"

Steve tried to smile reassuringly. "I'm fine, Danno."

Danny raised his eyebrows. "You sure look the picture of Health…"

Steve smirked. "Do you really want me to tell you about the pot and the kettle?" Steve patted Danny's back. "Don't worry about it Danno, I'm alright."

"S-sure you are! You f…freaking Super S…SEAL c…could be blee…ding to dea…th and you'd s…still say yo..you're alright-FUCK!" Danny doubled over in pain, trembling and barely able to breathe.

* * *

About three hours later, Danny had finally passed out, exhausted, and Steve was doing his best to convince himself that there was not a hot poker twisting on his side every time he took a breath. Fortunately for him, the nurse chose that moment to come back.

She took a look at Danny's sleeping form and at Steve's trembling figure and moved to Steve's side, a syringe on her hand. "Alright Commander, you've had enough for today."

Steve shook his head. "Don't want that… It's not fair…"

The nurse raised her eyebrows. "Not fair?"

Steve looked at Danny's sleeping form. "It's not fair that he's in pain and I'm not…" He said through gritted teeth.

The nurse smiled sympathetically. "You do realize that you won't be of any help to him if you don't heal properly?"

Steve shrugged. "I'll be fine…"

The nurse caught Steve's eyes. "Steve, I'm sorry to say this, but things will only get worse for Daniel. If you really want to help him through this without jeopardizing his wellbeing or your own, then you need to care for yourself first. He won't ever forgive himself if you end up harmed because you tried to help him through this."

Steve saw the truth in the nurse's statement, so he finally agreed on having the pain meds. After inserting them into his IV, she moved to separate the beds. "I'm going to push the beds apart so you two can get some rest. Once you wake up we'll see if we can get you two closer, ok?"

Steve nodded, or at least he thought he did. He tried to mumble something like "Take care of him", hoping that she would keep an eye on his partner while Steve was otherwise occupied. He finally let himself sleep, wondering what he would find when he next woke up.

* * *

TBC...

* * *


	6. Life is Pain Chapter 6

"What part of 'I don't want to lie down' did you not get, huh?"

Steve was not surprised to wake up to the sound of one of Danny's rants. The unusual part was the fact that this time it was not merely a rant; Danny sounded truly pissed. More surprising was the scene he found when he opened his eyes; Danny pacing the room like a caged animal, his sling undone, Kono standing nearby with a defensive posture, and Chin, sitting near Steve's bed, looking at Danny like he was expecting an attack.

"Danny, I'm just saying that you're not looking well! Maybe we should call a nurse to help you with the sling so you can lie down and take a nap?" Kono was trying to sound friendly and harmless, but it was coming out more scared than anything.

"No! I don't want a freaking nurse! I just want you to leave me the fuck alone!" Danny was breathing heavily and sticking his finger in front of Kono's face.

Kono took a step backwards, but before she could come up with a reply, Steve spoke up. "Hey, Danny what the hell is the matter with you?"

Danny looked at Steve, breathing heavily and running his trembling hand through his wild hair. "What's the matter with me? Really? I just want them to leave me the hell alone!"

"What are you talking about, Danno? They're just trying to help!" Steve never thought that Danny would be capable of hurting Chin or Kono, but his posture right now made Steve doubt that assessment.

Danny turned to Kono "Help? Well, it's a little too late for your help now, isn't it?" He was getting louder, and closing in on Kono. "I'm thinking we could have used the help when Steve's truck was being blown up and rolling down a hill! But right now I don't want your help! I just want you to stay the hell away from me!"

Danny moved to push Kono away but the next time he blinked Chin was standing in front of him, a hand on Danny's chest. "Alright, Danny, that's enough."

Danny swiped away Chin's hand angrily. "Don't you fucking touch me!" He moved to push Chin away but found himself flattened against the wall. Instead of keeping up the fight, Danny started panicking the moment he hit the wall. "No! Stop… No!"

Chin was expecting Danny to start fighting back, never what looked like a panic attack. At the first sound of distress from the other man, Chin took a step back. Danny crumpled to the floor, curling into a shaking ball and Chin followed him down. "Danny… Danny! What's wrong?"

Danny was clutching his head between his hands. When Chin put a hand on his shoulder, Danny latched onto it, leaning towards Chin's chest. "I'm sorry! Sorry, please! Don't leave… Hurts… just hurts… help me, please!"

Chin tried to calm down his friend, looking helplessly at the other occupants of the room. Kono turned on her heels and went in search of a nurse or a doctor, while Steve looked from his bed not being able to provide much assistance. Chin held Danny talking soothingly to him, in an attempt to calm him down. "Danny… It's alright… You'll be fine… Just breathe brah…"

Kono came back with a nurse that took one look at Danny and left in search of something. A couple of minutes later, she came back with and oxygen tank with a mask that she tried to place on Danny's face, but he was having none of that so she left the room in search for the doctor.

Danny was just starting to calm down, but he also started to weakly push Chin away. "Chin you gotta move…"

Chin was having none of that and held on tighter to Danny. "Danny, it's alright, we've got your back."

Fortunately for both Danny and Chin, Kono had noticed that Danny was turning even paler than he already was, and was starting to swallow convulsively. She hurried to the bathroom and came back with a waste basket in the nick of time. "Chin! Move!"

No sooner had Kono pushed Chin away and placed the basket in front of Danny than Danny was being violently sick into said basket. Both Kono and Chin held Danny up, rubbing his trembling back comfortingly.

Once he was done, he leaned tiredly against Chin, accepting a glass of water from Kono. "Thank you guys… I… I'm being an ass… I'm sorry…"

Kono squeezed his arm. "Don't worry about it, brah! You're family! You're entitled to be an ass once in a while!" She said with a wink. "It's good to know that you can be really scary when you want to."

Danny patted Kono's hand. "'m still sorry."

"What do you say we move you to the bed? It doesn't look very comfortable, but I'm sure it's better than the floor."

Danny nodded, and with the help of Kono and Chin he was back in his bed. He looked towards Steve and found him trying to get up, one leg dangling from the bed and a guilty/pained expression on his face. "What do you think you're doing? Get your ass back in your bed!"

Steve raised his eyebrows. "But Danny…"

Danny rolled his eyes. "What? Do you want me to say 'stand down, soldier!' then for the love of God, Stand down! Get your ass in that bed before the wonder twins here have to pick it up from the floor as well!"

For once, Steve did as instructed, with the help of Chin. He looked back at Danny. "Are you alright, Danno?"

Danny looked him in the eyes for a few seconds and shook his head sadly. "No, I'm not alright." He took a deep breath, covering his eyes with his hand. "Listen, guys… I… I'm gonna ask the doc to move me to another room… I… I'm a mess… and… You shouldn't have to deal with it."

Kono took his hand so he would look at her. "Danny, don't say that!"

Danny pulled away, not looking at Kono. "I'm… I'm just tired of this… Don't think I can fight anymore…"

Steve chose that moment to speak up, pulling up the big guns. "Danny… You have to fight! Grace needs you!"

Danny turned to look at Steve, tears spilling from his eyes. "Grace doesn't need me like this. She's better off without me…" Suddenly his eyed widened as another wave of pain wracked his body. He curled up into a tiny ball, not aware of the whimpers coming from his mouth. He opened his eyes to see Doctor Kane talking to him, but couldn't make the words. He latched onto her arm, trying to get her to help him. "Please! Make it stop!"

It took Danny a while to understand what the doctor was saying, but one look at the syringe on her hand brought the message home. "Yes! I'll do anything! Just, please make the pain stop!" He was a coward, he was a failure, but he wanted the pain to end.

* * *

TBC…

* * *


	7. Life is Pain Chapter 7

Danny was expecting some kind of relief, but when nothing happened, he forced himself to open his eyes and found Doctor Kane still talking to him. He made the effort to listen to what the doctor was saying. "Danny, can you hear me?"

Danny nodded weakly, but the movement was not enough for the doctor. "Danny, I need you to speak up, can you hear me?"

Danny glared at the woman. "Yes, I hear you…" His answer came out as an annoyed and pained croak.

Doctor Kane smiled at him. "Alright Danny, I have a dose of morphine here. It should put you to sleep for some hours, maybe a day, but I need you to understand that once the morphine wears off, we'll be back to the start. You would still have to go through the detox process. Do you understand, Danny?"

Danny took a shuddering breath. Damn woman, she had to go and make him think about consequences! "Yes, I understand…" He said finally, with a jerky nod.

The doctor leaned forward, squeezing Danny's arm gently. "Danny, do you still want me to give you the Morphine?"

Danny took a couple of deep breaths, wishing the damn doctor hadn't given him time to think this over, wishing his conscience would let him be for once in his life, wishing that he couldn't picture Gracie's look of disappointment if he failed to get his act together, and soon. He shook his head and uttered a hoarse "No…" trying and failing to stifle a sob.

The doctor wouldn't leave him alone. "Danny?" she said, shaking his shoulder.

"No, I don't want them; now take them away from here!" He snapped He covered his eyes, curling into himself and trying to hide himself from the world.

It didn't last too long though, because the damn doctor was still there, trying to catch his attention. "Danny, I need you to listen to me…"

Danny's patience had definitely run out by now. "What? What… is the matter with you? What could you… possibly want now? Why… won't you… just let me curl up… and die in peace?"

Doctor Kane was taken aback by Danny's response. "Danny… I have some meds that could help you with the nausea and the worst of the cramps…"

Danny weakly scooted away from her. "Told you! I don't want any morphine!"

The doctor shook her head. "Danny, it's ibuprofen and other meds that won't set back your recovery. They won't take all of the discomfort away, but it should help a bit. I would also like to put you on some oxygen…"

Danny shook his head. "No… no masks… feel trapped…"

The doctor nodded. "Ok, what about a nasal cannula?"

Danny sighed tiredly. "Do I… have to?"

The doctor smiled. "You don't have to do anything you don't want to, Danny, but I believe that the oxygen would help you to feel a bit better."

Danny considered it for a minute and then nodded. "Alright… Do what you gotta do doc… Just not the morphine…"

She squeezed his arm gently. "Ok, Danny. I'll instruct the nurse to get the shot and set you up with the nasal cannula. I'll be around if you need anything, ok?" She turned to Steve's bed. "Alright Commander, your turn."

* * *

A couple of hours later, Danny was curled up on his side, trying to follow his team's conversation. The doctor had declared that Steve was healing nicely, so he was allowed to raise the back of his bed a little bit, and Chin and Kono were talking to them about their large family. Kono moved to sit on Danny's bed when she heard his breath hitching and saw him twitch a bit. "Danny, you alright?"

Danny smiled tiredly. "Been better, babe… But I think… I'm kinda getting used to it…" He would have sounded a bit more convincing if his face hadn't scrunched in pain and his breath had left him in a shuddering gasp right then.

It took him a few seconds to force his eyes open again, and by then, Kono was hovering and looking far too worried. "Danny? Are you alright? What hurts?"

Danny would have smiled if it hadn't hurt so much. "'vrything hurts… Hurts to breathe… hurts not to breathe…" He noticed that Kono looked ready to freak out, so he reached out to take her hand. "Hey, babe… 't's alright… It'll pass… hopefully soon…" He shrugged.

Kono looked at him surprised. "It's alright? Danny, you're in an incredible amount of pain and you're trying to cheer me up?"

Danny actually gave her a weak smile this time. "You know… You reminded me… of an old movie… that Gracie loves…"

"And what movie would that be?" Asked Chin. The whole team was feeling glad to have found something to distract Danny from his misery, even for a little while.

Danny took a deep breath. "Well… There's a Princess… A pirate… A six fingered man… a Spanish guy…" He looked at Steve "Actually… you'd make a good Inigo…"

Steve raised his eyebrows. "What is an Inigo?"

Chin chuckled. "Not what, _who_. Inigo is a man with a vengeance, looking for the six fingered man that killed his father. And Danny, an 80's movie doesn't really qualify as an old movie…"

Kono chuckled. "I'm sure it's not old for you, cuz…"

Steve looks from Chin to Danny, still confused. "Wo fat doesn't have six fingers…" This makes both Chin and Kono laugh out loud, so he turns to Danny, who's at least not laughing. "Does he get his guy at least?"

Danny smiles. "Sure he does… He goes… 'Hello, My name is Iñigo Montoya… You killed my father. .. Prepare to die…' about a hundred times… before he actually… kills the poor bastard." He notices Steve is still a bit confused, but he gets back on track. "Anyway, at some point in the movie… the princess… tells the pirate not to mock her pain… because… he killed the love of her life… and all that… Well, he says ' _Life is pain, Highness… Anyone who says differently… is selling something…_ '"

Steve raises his eyebrows. "So let me get this straight… You have a Spanish guy tracking and killing the man who killed his father, who happens to have six fingers. You have a princess being kidnapped by a pirate and informed that said pirate murdered the love of her life, and what looks like a pirate with a mood disorder. Why would you let Gracie see that?"

Kono was laughing like she hadn't laughed in days, Danny was smirking and Chin was chuckling. Chin cleared his throat. "Steve, it's a kid's movie… You should see it sometime, it's kind of funny. It's got everything… Fencing, fighting, torture, revenge, giants, monsters, chases, escapes, true love, miracles..."

Steve thought about it for a moment. "It doesn't sound so bad…" Which got Chin and Kono laughing at him again. "Hey! What did I say now?"

Kono managed to get herself together first. "Nothing, boss… We'll make sure you see it soon, I promise." She said with a smile. She turned to Danny, happy to notice that even though he still looked like he was in a lot of pain, he was smiling. "So, Danny, if the Boss is Inigo… Does that make you Vizzini?"

Danny opened his mouth and closed it a couple of times, looking somewhere between insulted and trying to hold in laughter. "I can't believe… you'd make a short joke!... Inconceivable!" Danny curled up in pain, but it was from laughter, so it was not so bad. "Damn… Don't make me laugh… Now seriously… I've always seen myself… as a Dread Pirate Roberts type…"

Kono smirked, not needing to ask who Danny saw as Buttercup. "So… We can all agree that Kamekona would make a good Fezzik, but who do I get to be?" She pouted a bit, for effect, but got a little bit scared at the evil smirk on Danny's face.

Danny looked from Chin to Kono, trying not to laugh. "Ok, babe… don't be mad, ok? I've always thought… that all that computer stuff… that you and Chin can pull off… is a little bit like… magic?"

Kono looked outraged. She opened and closed her mouth a few times, looking at Chin for support, but her cousin was chuckling. "What are you laughing at, 'Miracle Max'?" She said, punching Chin on the arm. She turned to Danny, chuckling. "I can't believe you think I'm _Valerie_!"

Danny tried and failed to look innocent. "I'm sure that… under all that… old lady makeup… there was a very… pretty lady!"

Kono mock glared at him. "I should pick one of your pillows and suffocate you with it… _Liar_ …" She said, sticking her tongue out at him.

Steve looked at his team, glad to see them smiling after the tough times they've had, but still confused about why they were laughing. "You guys have to show me this movie…" He said, chuckling.

* * *

An hour later, they had finally gotten themselves together, and were starting to get concerned about Danny again. He was looking paler, if possible, and he was blinking tiredly. Steve noticed the change. "Hey, Danny… You alright? Want me to call the doctor?"

Danny shook his head tiredly. "Nah. 'm alright… 'ctually don't hurt so much anymore… Just a little tired…"

Steve looked concerned. "Why don't you take a nap? You don't look so good…"

Danny kept blinking tiredly. "Yeah… I guess I'll try… to sleep… for a while…" With that, Danny's eyes closed and he went limp. Far too limp for his friends' taste. Chin moved to check on him and turned to Kono with an alarmed expression on his face. "Kono! Get the doctor! He's not breathing!"

* * *

TBC…

* * *


	8. Life is Pain Chapter 8

Doctor Kane rushed into the room and pushed a button on the wall that set off some kind of alarm. A couple of nurses rushed in, asking Chin and Kono to leave the room.

Steve watched as the doctor placed an oxygen mask over Danny's face and started rubbing his sternum. "Danny… I need you to wake up for me, Danny?"

A few seconds later, which felt like hours to Steve, Danny stirred. The sound of Danny's deep breaths and confused groan were the most beautiful sound Steve had heard in a long time.

Danny woke up confused and out of breath. He felt something cold covering his nose and mouth, and there was someone leaning over him. He was tired, why couldn't they let him sleep in peace?

He lifted his hand to remove the annoying thing covering his face, but a hand stopped his movement. He forced himself to focus his blurry sight and found Doctor Kane. "Danny, can you hear me?"

"Yeah, can hear you… Don't need to yell…" He tried to take off the thing covering his face, but the doctor prevented it.

"No, no Danny… You gave your friends a bit of a scare, so we're going to keep you with the mask for a few hours, ok?" Danny was starting to hate the doc's cheerful tone.

Danny turned to look in Steve's direction and found him sitting up in his bed and looking at him with a frightened expression on his face. "What'd I do?"

Steve smiled, finally losing his 'aneurism face'. "You suddenly decided that breathing was overrated, Danno…"

Danny lifted his eyebrows tiredly. "I did? Well, I was tired… breathing takes a lot outta you…" He turned towards the doctor. "Speaking of which, if you were so kind as to stop poking me, I could carry on with my previous activities… without the 'not breathing' thing, of course."

Doctor Kane smiled at him. "Well, if you agree that the 'not breathing' thing is not good, would you allow us to put you on an IV to help hydrate you and a heart and an O2 monitors?"

Danny rolled his eyes. "You've been dying to stick a needle into me ever since I got here, haven't you? Why can't you understand that-"

His rant was interrupted by his current roommate. "Danny! Could you just let them…"

Danny turned to Steve and was surprised to notice he looked scared. "Babe, I'll only rip it off again if I start twitching…"

Steve finally smiled. "What if I promise to call the nurse the moment you start twitching?"

Danny sighed. "Of course you would stay up all night monitoring my every twitch, but you, my friend, should be resting, not worrying about me…"

Steve's smile turned evil. "Well, if you consented to the monitors and the IV, then I wouldn't have to worry about it; it would be the nurses' job."

Danny shook his head. "I can't believe you're pulling the guilt card! Such a low play, McGarrett…" He took a deep breath and finally turned towards the doctor. "Alright, connect me to all the wire thingies and the IV… Just no… no drugs… ok?" He started studying the sheets on his bed.

The doctor smiled, writing some things on Danny's chart and finally moving towards the room. "Don't worry Danny, I'll tell the nurse to set you up with everything and I'll check myself everything they put on your IV, ok?"

Danny shrugged his good shoulder, closing his eyes tiredly again. "'k"

* * *

After that, Danny slept. He slept though the nurse putting on the IV and connecting him to a heart monitor. He slept through the doctor coming back and poking and prodding him some more. What he didn't exactly sleep through was Rachel's visit. He wasn't exactly awake either.

He felt a gentle touch on his hand and opened his eyes to a familiar face. "Danny! How are you feeling?"

"Rach? What you doing here?" He said, blinking tiredly.

"I… I came to see how you were doing, Danny…" Danny was surprised to notice that she sounded uncertain.

"I'm alright, Rach. Just a little tired…" Danny shrugged.

Rachel noticed that Danny could barely keep his eyes open, so she decided to let him rest. "Get some sleep, Danny…"

Danny nodded tiredly, his eyes closing. A beat later he roused himself enough to hold onto Rachel's hand. "Wait!... Grace… Tell Grace…"

Rachel patted his hand tenderly. "Don't worry. I'll make sure to tell her that Danno loves her." She said with a smile.

Danny nodded, settling more comfortably against the pillows. "Thanks Rach… I'm sorry… just need some sleep…"

Rachel smiled. "Don't worry, Danny… Get some rest. I'll try to come back tomorrow, alright?"

Danny's eyes closed and he shifted against his pillow. "'k… Love you Rach…" And with a sigh he was asleep.

Rachel looked from his ex husband to the other bed in the room and found Steve awake. The strange thing was that Steve didn't look surprised at all at Danny's admission, and it was even stranger to realize that it was something she had known all along, she just didn't want to think about it.

She nodded a curt farewell to Steve and left the room. She didn't have time to deal with feelings for her ex husband right now.

* * *

TBC...

* * *


	9. Life is Pain Chapter 9

Danny was next awoken by a strange noise in the room. He opened his bleary eyes to a dark room, looking around to try to find the source of whatever it was that woke him. He noticed that other than his roommate, there was no one else in the room, and Steve seemed to be deeply asleep.

He heard the strange noise again, and was surprised to find that Steve was the one making it. He looked closely at his friend, noticing that his breathing was coming faster than normal and that every few minutes something that closely resembled a whimper left Steve's lips.

Danny was about to call the nurse, thinking that his friend was in pain, when Steve uttered a soft "No! Mom… please!", which made him change his mind immediately.

Danny removed the oxygen mask, studying all the monitors and wires attached to him. He knew that if he just removed the things attached to his chest, a lot of loud alarms would go off, half the hospital would rush in and his attempt to leave his bed unnoticed would go to hell, so he started pressing all of the buttons, until the screen finally turned off.

He removed the wires and the IV, careful not to tear out the needle, again, and was finally free to move to his friend's side.

Once he stood up on his own two feet, he realized that they were not as stable as he thought they were. Apparently the fact that he had no food and lots of sleep for the last few days had something to do with that as well. He stumbled to Steve's bed, leaning heavily against it and reached out his good arm to wake his distressed partner. He grabbed Steve's shoulder shaking him softly. "Hey, Steve… Wake up, you're dreaming…"

When the gentle shaking didn't work, Danny moved his hand to his friend's forehead, glad to find that even though it was damp, at least his friend didn't seem overly hot. Steve's movements got increasingly restless and he kept mumbling things like "Sorry" and "Stop", so Danny had had enough. He took Steve's shoulder again and shook him more forcefully, calling out his name more loudly. "Hey! Steve! Come on! Wake up!"

Whatever reaction Danny was expecting, it certainly wasn't a strong hand wrapping around his throat and squeezing, hard.

Danny tried to speak, but no sound would come off his abused throat, he tried to hit Steve, to get him to let go, but it didn't work. He had to use both of his hands to loosen the hold on his throat enough to draw a little bit of breath and hoped to get to his half asleep friend. "Steve! Stop! Please!" was the tiny sound that he managed to choke out, but by then bright lights were crowding his vision.

Suddenly the pressure was gone and he could draw precious air into his lungs, but the fact that his legs would not hold much of his weight meant that he was going down, hard, and with his luck he would surely land on his bad shoulder. He braced himself for the pain that would follow, but it never came. Instead he felt himself being pulled up and thrown unceremoniously on the bed.

He drew a couple of deep breaths, trying not to cough, and opened his eyes to see Steve hovering nearby. In the time he and Steve had worked together he had seen plenty of his partner's 'faces', but this was the first time the 'scared shitless' one made an appearance. Steve had scrambled backwards until he hit the wall, pulling up his knees and wrapping his arms around them, he was shaking softly and breathing heavily. When he noticed Danny looking at him, he lowered his head to rest against his knees, softly muttering "I'm sorry Danny" over and over again.

Danny moved to sit next to Steve on the bed. Unknowingly mimicking his friend's moves from a few days ago, he lifted his uninjured arm slowly, pulling Steve closer against him. In a soft voice he started talking to his distressed friend. "Hey, Super SEAL. What are you apologizing about? I don't recall you getting me shot this time…"

That at least got a chuckle out of Steve, but he still wouldn't lift his head or look at Danny. "I got us blown up… doesn't that count?"

Danny patted Steve's back comfortingly. "You mean the truck thing? I don't think that qualifies as you getting us blown up… Unless you knew that Ronnie and our weapons dealer were BFFs…"

Steve lifted his head to look confusedly at Danny. "BFFs?"

Danny smirked. "You need to get out more babe, it's not an acronym for a super secret organization! It means Best Friends Forever…"

Steve was silent for a moment and then shook his head. "I didn't know that they were BFFs…"

Danny patted his back. "Then you have nothing to apologize about!"

Steve turned to look at him, more specifically at his neck. "I could have killed you, Danny…"

Danny shrugged his good shoulder. "That'll teach me not to intrude in a Super SEAL's beauty sleep…"

Steve lowered his head again, passing a shaking hand through his hair. "'m sorry, Danny… I… I didn't know it was you…"

Danny squeezed his shoulder comfortingly. "Hey… it's alright… Do you wanna talk about it?"

Steve shook his head jerkily, not lifting his head. Danny waited patiently and after a few minutes Steve accepted that his friend wouldn't take no for an answer. "It… It was my mom… I… I used to dream a-about the accident all the time… I'd see the drunk driver… a-and my mom's car blowing u-up… N-now I see the c-car exploding… and he's watching! The s-son of a bitch is watching a-and I can't do a-anything to stop it! And I c-can't believe my dad would lie about it!" Steve was in pain, exhausted and apparently the painkillers had caused havoc on his self control, because he couldn't keep some tears from falling.

Danny held him close, knowing that there was nothing he could say that would make things better. After some time, Steve finally stopped shaking, and Danny couldn't stay silent any longer. "Hey, babe… You know… If I'd ever been in your old man's shoes, I wouldn't want my kids to know the truth either…"

Steve didn't move away, but his tone certainly changed. "So that's how it is? In order to protect the people you care about, you betray their trust?"

Danny sighed, but didn't avoid the question. "Sometimes you lie to protect the ones you love; sometimes you lie to protect yourself…"

Steve lifted his head to fix bloodshot eyes on Danny. "So, which one was your case?"

Danny sighed, but couldn't allow himself to look away. "I… I think I was scared. When I first started, my Captain saw it as a work related condition… He made sure that it didn't go on my record… After that, I made sure not to get into it again… At HPD I was terrified of someone finding out and that I'd lose my job, if I didn't have a job here I couldn't hope to stay here with Grace, so I kept quiet, and once I started in Five-0 I had been lying for so long that I feared I'd lose your trust, that I'd lose my job, if I just came out and told you about it…"

Steve sat up, moving away from Danny to sit against the pillows. Danny was a bit discouraged that his expression didn't give anything away. "So now that we all know, would you tell me about it?"

Danny looked down. "There's not much to tell… I was chasing a perp down an alley. I didn't see him hijacking a motorbike. He ran me over, trying to escape… I mean literally ran me over… At least it was only my right leg… I had the tire track to prove it and everything. I don't remember much of the days after that, but they had to do some serious reconstruction on the leg, they were afraid they0d had to cut it off at first… After that it was months of PT, and it took about a year and a half before I could walk without an obvious limp. It never stopped hurting. I started piling painkillers over painkillers and it wouldn't make a difference. I'd try to cut down, but it-it hurt too much… Eventually Rachel figured it out, and got me some help…" He looked up and met Steve's eyes. "Once I got over it, I did my best to pretend that it never happened."

Steve raised his eyebrows. "It didn't go as well as you expected, did it?"

Danny shook his head sadly, still not able to read the expression on his partner's face. "No, I don't think it did…"

Steve studied Danny. "At least you're looking a little better now…"

Danny shrugged his good shoulder. "I think the shakes and general unpleasantness is mostly gone. I'm just a bit tired…" He looked at the bandage around Steve's chest. "What about you?"

That got the first smile of the day out of Steve. "Don't worry about it, Danno. The doc stopped by while you were sleeping and said that I can go home tomorrow… She told Chin and Kono not to let me into the office for at least two weeks though." He finished, with a put upon sigh.

Danny smiled as well. "Well, you'll have plenty of time to fix that piece of junk that you call a car…"

Steve looked insulted. "Piece of junk? That car is a classic, Danno!"

Danny rolled his eyes. "Sure, you keep telling yourself that…"

* * *

An hour later, Doctor Kane came into the room to check on her patients. The nurses had warned her that detective Williams had apparently turned off the monitors, but they hadn't noticed any strange movements or sounds coming from the room, so the two men should be still there. She wasn't expecting the picture that met her once she opened the door. Detective Williams' bed was empty, the IV bag still hanging from the pole, and both of her patients squeezed into McGarrett's bed all the blankets askew and snoring softly.

* * *

TBC...

* * *


	10. Life is Pain Chapter 10

Two weeks later things were slowly going back to normal. Both Steve and Danny had been released from the hospital on the same day, but Danny had been allowed to go back to work, although not fieldwork yet, a week before Steve.

Today was the day Steve returned to work, and Danny couldn't help to be nervous and a bit fidgety. He had been doing nothing but paperwork for a whole week and at best he could look forward to another week of the same exciting activities, by his doctor's orders.

Around 8 Steve arrived at the office. Danny moved from his office to greet him, and more importantly, to make sure that he looked well enough to come back to work.

Steve looked a bit pale, but he didn't seem to be in any pain and appeared to be well rested. He smiled when he saw his team. "Hey guys, have you been just hanging around doing nothing ever since I've been gone?"

Danny rolled his eyes. "Of course! We are incapable of doing anything without our fearless leader! We've been lost without your guidance, oh, Super SEAL!"

Chin chuckled. "It's good to have you back, brah. Danny has been too twitchy without you around to yell at."

Steve raised his eyebrows, smiling delightedly at Danny. "Really? You missed me, Danno?"

Danny glared at Chin and Steve, shaking his head. "I haven't been twitchy! And we've seen each other every other day, Steven, so I haven't had the opportunity to miss your crazy behavior." He lowered his eyes. "I've just been a little restless, doing paperwork all day and stuff…" He said with a shrug.

Steve smiled at him. "Well, you're in luck my friend, because now that I'm back we can carry on as usual!" He turned to Chin and Kono. "Do we have a case?"

Danny lifted his eyebrows. "A case? Did our good doctor clear you for field work?"

Steve suddenly found his shoes very interesting. "Erm… No… Not really, but I'm feeling great, so there's no need to trouble Doctor Kane…"

Danny smirked. "Of course there is no need to trouble her…" He grabbed Steve's arm, directing him towards his office.

Once there, Steve noticed a large pile of papers on his desk, he turned towards his partner. "Danny?"

Danny smiled at him. "Well, those are incident reports, budget requests, expenses reports and every other boring paperwork that I've been filling for the last week… They only need your signature."

Steve noticed something strange about Danny's expression, but couldn't figure out what it was. "What about you? Why couldn't you sign all of this stuff?"

Danny smirked, but Steve could see that it didn't quite reach his eyes. "Well, there are things that only our Boss can sign, and I didn't want you to get bored when you came back to work…"

Steve rolled his eyes. "That's very generous of you."

Danny shrugged. "What can I say, I'm a giver!"

Steve moved to his desk shaking his head. He turned to Danny, noticing again his strange expression. "What about you? The doc hasn't given you leave to go back out there either…"

Danny smiled. "Don't worry about me; I have a couple of cold cases that will take some of my time for the next couple of days…"

Steve sat down with a sigh. "Alright… let me start with this then…"

Danny moved back to his office, but not without having the last word. "Have fun!"

* * *

It was almost 6 PM, and Steve still had a long way to go with his paperwork. It was like Danny had found every form he could find and piled them up on his desk. He had been distracted all day by Danny's strange behavior as well.

It turned out that Chin had been right. Every time Steve looked up from his paperwork he could see Danny either pacing around the office or trying to focus on his own paperwork while stealing furtive glances in Steve's direction.

When Steve heard the sound of Danny having another battle with the copy machine, he decided that he had had enough paperwork for the day. He approached the Copy room and found Danny hitting the poor machine as if he could get some information by torturing it. "Hey! What did the machine ever do to you?"

Danny whirled around, glaring at his partner. "What did it do? This thing has been mocking me all day! All I want is a couple of copies and this thing decides to go on strike, and to squish every single piece of paper it can reach!"

Steve chuckled. "Well, maybe if you'd stop hitting it, then it would work a bit better." He noticed his friend's tired sigh. "Hey, what do you say we get outta here? We could get some pizza at my place…?"

Danny perked up at the idea. "No pineapple?"

Steve smiled, pleased. "I promise no pineapple and jam."

Danny sighed tiredly. "Lead the way!"

* * *

An hour later, they were sitting comfortably on Steve's couch, watching a game and eating a jumbo pizza, with no pineapple in sight. Danny took a large bite of his pizza and a greasy bit of cheese fell on his tie, sliding down his shirt to land on Steve's couch. "Oh, shit…" He looked at Steve sheepishly.

Steve was glaring at the stain on his couch, and then turned his glare to Danny. Danny gave him a little shrug. "Do you have any napkins?"

Steve rolled his eyes and with a shake of his head stood up to get the napkins. Danny was concentrating on slurping the bits of cheese and sauce still dripping from his pizza, so he didn't put any attention to what Steve handed him to clean up the mess on his clothes and on the couch. He wiped his shirt and tie and was starting on the couch when he noticed that in between the paper napkins there was a folded piece of paper, which was by now hopelessly stained with grease and tomato sauce.

He left the pizza on the box and the rest of the napkins on the coffee table, not feeling hungry anymore. He didn't need to unfold the piece of paper to identify the Transfer Request Form. He had no trouble recognizing his own handprint. Hell, he had filled and signed the damn thing last week and left it on Steve's desk, hidden between the pile of paperwork he left for him to sign, hoping against hope that he wouldn't realize that he had signed Danny's transfer back to HPD until after the fact. Yet another proof that Murphy's Law always seemed to play against him.

He lifted his eyes to look at Steve and mustered his most annoyed look. "What the hell is this, McGarrett?"

Steve was standing with his arms crossed around his chest, glaring back at Danny. "Shouldn't I be the one asking that question?"

Danny stood up and started pacing the room. "Well, I know you are a little behind on the whole paperwork deal. I'm sure that you thought that the fact that you asked the Governor to recruit us into your merry band meant that we would magically start to get our paychecks, but for your information, we had to fill out some paperwork, transfers don't work themselves out just because you say so!"

Steve rolled his eyes. "Danny, I know exactly what that paper is for! What I'm interested to know is why are you requesting to be transferred back to HPD, and what made you think that I'd just sign the damn thing and let you go without some kind of explanation?"

Danny stopped pacing, running a trembling hand through his hair, and turned to look at Steve. "Well, I thought – I was hoping that… That you'd be kind enough to spare me the humiliation…" He said in a choked whisper.

Steve shook his head, frowning. "Humiliation? Danny… I have no idea what you're talking about…" He said helplessly.

Danny sighed, lowering his eyes. "I can't work for Five-0 anymore."

Steve moved in a second, standing in front of Danny and grabbing his shoulder. "What? Who the hell said that?" He was ready to fight tooth and nails to anyone who wanted Danny off the team.

Danny shook Steve's hand off and took a couple of steps backwards. "Who? You said that, you stupid moron!"

Steve shook his head in denial, taking a minute to voice his protest. "What? I never… When did I say that?"

Danny turned away, running his hands through his hair and finally looked at Steve, his eyes brimming with tears. "You… It was at the Hospital… You said that I had betrayed your trust… If… If you can't trust me… Then there's not much use in me staying in the team…" He finished, with a defeated sigh.

Steve moved again to Danny's side, taking hold of his shoulder and directing him to sit on the couch again. He sat on the coffee table in front of him, squeezing his knee to get him to look up. "Danny, what I said that day was out of bitterness for the fact you were defending my father's actions, and that you were doing a good job of it. I… I never meant to imply that I had lost my trust in you! Hell, you are one of the few people I'd trust with my life!"

Danny shook his head in denial. "But… I lied…"

Steve smiled sadly. "Well, technically, you didn't lie. You just omitted a few bits of information that may or may not be important to your work performance."

Danny gave a half hearted chuckle. "It's not the same, and you know it."

Steve smiled encouragingly. "Danny, I've worked with many teams in my life. I can't say that there are many people on that group that I'd trust more than you."

Danny wouldn't allow Steve to let it go so easily. "But how can you trust me not to keep stuff from you again?"

Steve shook his head, smirking. "Danny, there is so much stuff about my past that I can't or won't tell you about… And you are still willing to follow me all the way… Whatever happens, I know I can trust you, because I know you!"

Danny raised an eyebrow. "What kind of stuff?"

Steve thought about it for a second. "Well, there's stuff that if I told you, and you told anyone else, I'd have to kill you… Like the fact that on the late 80's I asked my dad if I could grow a mullet. He was not too keen on the idea." He said with a sad sigh.

Danny laughed out loud. Taking a deep breath, he lowered his head to rest it on his hands. "So I don't have to fill another transfer form?" He said, not looking at Steve.

Steve squeezed his friend shoulder with a smile. "I'd say not. Unless you finally got tired of me getting you shot or blown up every other day…"

Danny lifted his eyes, finally starting to look relieved. "Nah… I think it keeps me on my toes… Not that I'm encouraging you to get me shot on a regular basis."

Steve smirked. "I wouldn't think about it, Danno!"

Danny rolled his eyes, moving to take a piece of pizza. "Great, now the pizza's gone cold…"

Steve stood up, taking the box with him. "Don't worry about it… I'll just re heat it on the microwave…"

Danny sat back on the couch, sighing sadly. "That's no way to treat decent pizza…"

* * *

A couple of weeks later Danny was finishing a report on the team's latest raid when he was interrupted by Kono, looking far too excited. "Come on Danny! It's starting!"

Danny rolled his eyes, smiling. "Go ahead, I know it by heart already… I'll be right there."

Once he was done with his paperwork he moved to the office with the flat screen, where the rest of his team was comfortably settled, staring intently at the TV. _'Buttercup was raised on a small farm in the country of Florin. Her favorite pastimes were riding her horse and tormenting the farm boy that worked there. His name was Westley, but she never called him that.'_

Suddenly Danny's phone started ringing, and when he looked at the screen, he noticed that it was Rachel calling. "Hey Rach…"

Things had been pretty civilized between them since he had been released from the hospital. "Hello Danny, how are you?"

Danny smiled. "I'm alright. Just finished for the day, you?"

"I am fine. I was calling to ask you whether you wanted to pick up Grace tomorrow or if you wanted me to drop her off at your place?"

Danny thought for a minute."Well, Steve invited us to spend the afternoon at his place tomorrow. Could you drop her off at his place?"

There was silence on the line for a few seconds, and then Rachel replied. " _As you wish…_ Would it be alright if I drop her off at 10 am?"

Danny smiled. "Yes, that would be great! Thank you so much, Rach."

"You're welcome, Danny. Have a good night…" And with that she hanged up.

Danny turned back to the screen. ' _That day she was amazed to discover that when he was saying 'As you wish', what he meant was, 'I love you.' And even more amazing was the day she realized she truly loved him back.'_

Danny looked at the screen for a minute and then stared stupidly at his phone, a goofy grin coming to his face. He sat down next to Steve, shaking his head with a chuckle. "Inconceivable…"

His life was strange like that… Looking around the room and watching his team he decided that the Dread Pirate Roberts was wrong after all, Life was not all pain, you only needed a man on a mission at your side, a little bit of magic and true love and you'd be set to storm any castle…

* * *

The end…

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you reached this point, thank you very much for reading.
> 
> A couple of reviewers in other site pointed out that the withdrawal symptoms usually come after a long term exposure to drugs, and that is the reason the body experiences those symptoms. I am aware that my story exaggerates that fact just for the sake of storytelling. I hope it doesn't messes up the story too badly. I'm not a doctor, not even close to one, so my apologies for those inconsistencies. I also don't mean to be disrespectful with the situation, I'm only telling a story.
> 
> I hope you leave a note, whether you liked it or not…
> 
> See you around!

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! As with all of my other stories, this is not betaed, so apologies for any mistakes.
> 
> Feel free to leave a review, whether you liked it or not…
> 
> See you soon!


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